River Friendly Certification Overview
Let's take a little in depth look at what the requirements are to be certified by Cumberland River Compact. Below you will find 5 categories that are reviewed through an on farm audit. The descriptions will show what we do based off the requirements and how this lead to use becoming River Friendly Farm Certified. It's hard to explain every piece of the process, but we hope this will allow our customers to learn more about the certification process and requirements. On-Farm audits happen every 3 years.
Certified: July 8, 2026
Soil Health
The first item that is looked at is soil health and erosion. Our farm has a spring fed pond that runs off into nearby creeks, which flows into Watts Bar Lake. Soil health is crucial for these waterways. By protecting the soil with cash crops, cover crops, and silage tarps, this allows the soil to stay in place and not wash into the waterways. Natural grasses, rock beds and buffer strips are also present on the farm to help with erosion. Minimal tillage also plays a vital role in keeping the soil healthy. After a harvest, the residue is left on the rows to break down. This allows the soil to stay in place, the nutrients from those crops enter back into the soil feeding the microorganism.
Nutrient Management
Adding the correct organic nutrients to our soil is vital for healthy crops. We are very conscious about how much and what type of nutrients are added. To get the correct nutrients, frequent soil samples are sent off to a third party lab. Those results dictate the nutrients added to the soil for a healthy crop. If a farm does not know what the soil needs, the crops will not perform well. This will also lead to nutrient runoff into waterways. For us, organic is an absolute must! We do not want chemicals and synthetic fertilizer leaching out into our waterways. This not only hurts you, but also the health of our environment. A record is kept of the type of nutrients that was added, how much was added and the date it was added. Watering also plays a role in nutrient management. The watering systems have on and off values to prevent water run-off. Nutrients also need to be applied at the right time and not before a huge rain event.
Pest & Farmstead Management
Pest management is key to growing healthy crops. A farmer cannot make a living without taking steps to protect what is in the field. How they choose to protect that crop plays a role in the health of the soil, environment and waterways. Synthetic pesticides are harmful and we NEVER use these! Organic farmers, like us, use OMRI (Organic Material Review Institute) listed products. OMRI listed products have been approved for organic growers and is a safer option for the environment. You can see what types of sprays we use under our farm values. These sprays do not leave residual reside on the plant, meaning it only kills the insect. If the insect is not sprayed directly it will not die. We also interplant crops, for example, Tomatoes with marigolds. Marigolds not only deter unwanted pest, but they attract beneficial insects to help with pest management naturally. We also implement living pathways. Living pathways serves a dual purpose, the roots keep the soil in place and the blooms attract beneficial insects. It's a Win Win for our farm! We also implement crop rotation which allows pest not to thrive in the same area. Farmstead management doesn't play a huge role because we do not have livestock or manure on our farm. However, we do occasionally bring in organic compost. The compost is covered with a tarp when it arrives. The tarp protects the compost from running off into any waterway during a rain event. After the pile of compost is dispersed, we then plant a cover crop to keep any leftover compost in place and rejuvenate the soil.
Waterway Protection
As stated above under soil heath, our farm has a direct line into Watts Bar Lake. Everything we do here on the farm affects our diverse waterways miles and miles beyond our farm. Our pond and streams have natural buffer zones, which are large mature trees and native grasses. This allows streams to have shade and support stream health. Access points to the waterways also impact the waterways. Therefore, we only have one access point for vehicles to cross the stream. This access point is also lined with fine gravel to limit dirt erosion from entering the waterways. We only irrigate crops when needed and the irrigation system is manually turned on and off. By irrigating only when necessary, the water is absorbed by the crop and does not run off into the waterways.
Record Keeping
Record keeping plays a huge role in our farming operation. During the on farm audit, the inspectors want to see detailed information on several categories. The first would be nutrients. As stated above we keep a record of the date the nutrients were applied, the type of nutrients used and how many pounds were applied. Secondly, a record is kept for pest management. After each application, we keep record of which crop was sprayed, which OMRI listed spray was applied, the date it was applied. Third, a record is kept for sanitizing. Sanitation is very high on our priority list. Since we grow microgreens, we keep a record of when the trays were sanitized and the method of sanitizing. We even keep a record of when the cutting utensils are sanitized. Gloves are worn when cutting and packaging microgreens. By keeping a record of each of these items, we can show that the nutrients are not just thrown on a crop, but it was thoughtfully applied insuring the crop absorbs the nutrients and they do not run off into the waterways. This also goes with spraying. We don't spray crops we spray insects. Keeping our operation sanitized and clean only leads to a healthier product for you.